6 Ways Online Marketing Can Be Leveraged By Small Business Owners In 2019

In this digital-everything world, marketing has changed, but so has the way we buy products. Online marketing plays a very important role and small business owners can’t ignore it, or else they won’t be able to reach potential customers.

Recent case studies have found that the majority of small businesses engage in digital marketing. Well over half of all small businesses currently market through their website (62%) and social media (61%). Email marketing, at 39%, is another common marketing channel.

For the most part, website, social media, and email marketing seems like the top 3 online marketing activities for small business owners.

For local business owners (brick and mortar), the formula seems to be different. Amazon Prime has altered the way consumers buy these days. The struggle of brick and mortar businesses is real.

Perhaps you are considering creating more content. The idea of content marketing is to drive more traffic to your website, and then get subscribers to your email list that will turn into potential consumers. This has been the typical internet marketing strategy that many marketers have used for the last decade.

There are two problems with the world of search engine optimization and SEO. Timing and the location-based restrictions applicable to local businesses.

You could craft a great content marketing strategy, without a doubt. But you will soon encounter the need to use paid search, to speed up your results. The reality is that content marketing should be part of a long term goal.

A Winner Online Marketing Strategy For Small Business Owners (looking for instant results)

1. Local SEO

Yoast says local SEO is about how to optimize your website to rank better for a local audience. A website gives you the opportunity to target the entire (online) world. But if the target audience for your business is actually located in or near the city you have your office or shop, you’ll need to practice at least some local SEO as well. You need to optimize for your city name, optimize your address details.

In short: you need to optimize so people know where you are located and are able to find you offline (if required).

Think about the last time you needed a home stylist or a local business that’ll fix your fridge, or bake a LOL-themed cake for your kid’s birthday. How did you find it?

You pull up your favorite search engine for a little online research, of course, and then scroll your search results.

Your customers are no different. When they’re looking for a product or service similar to what your local business sells, they’re going online to find it.

Local SEO is not just adding your address on the map. It takes more than that. A great search engine optimization (SEO) campaign for a local business should integrate Google My Business. Write this down!

2. Location Based Marketing

Location-based marketing (LMS) is a direct marketing strategy that uses a mobile device’s location to alert the device’s owner about an offering from a near-by business. Have you ever received coupons via SMS? That is an example of location-based marketing.

Typically, location-based alerts are delivered to smartphones through SMS text messages. An alert may include information about a local business’ deal of the day or include a purchasing incentive, such as a discount coupon code.

Proponents applaud location-based advertising as a way to bridge the gap between online and physical customer experiences and promote impulse purchases. Those against it have concerns about privacy and security.

Fivestars is one of the pioneers in LMS. Business owners that are part of their program are able to offer their clients a rewards program that includes benefits from other Fivestar participants. If I am buying at Juiceland, for example, I might get a code to redeem at the nearest yoga studio.

3. Geofencing & Geo-Targeting

Geofencing and Geo Targeting are location-based services. An app, browser or other services might use location data. This could be cellular data, Wi-Fi, global positioning (GPS), satellite, radio frequency identification (RFID). A device, transmitter, or RFID tag may enter or leave location parameters known as a geofence, location target, or Geo Targeting.

Once this “location boundary” is set, the location information can trigger a programmed action. This might be a push notification, SMS message, alert, display targeted advertising, tracking on a fleet vehicle, enable or disable certain equipped technologies, or create and collect location-based marketing data.

To make use of geofencing, a user must first establish a virtual boundary around a specified location using GPS coordinates or RFID-enabled software. This could be as simple as a circle drawn in a 1 mile or a 1-kilometer radius around a specific location on Google Maps. This virtual geofence would then be able to trigger a response when an authorized device enters or exits that area, as specified by the targeting settings of an online marketing campaign or location service.

A geofence is most commonly defined within the code of a mobile application, mainly because users would need to first opt-in to app-specific location services for the geofence to work. A retailer might draw a geofence around its outlets to trigger mobile push alerts for customers who have downloaded the retailer’s mobile app and also opted-in to location services.

As a small business owner, this is an online marketing strategy that should not be ignored. Your competitor could add a fence over you and remove your business from the map.

Facebook ads have geofencing capabilities. Don’t ignore it.

4. Micro Celebrities- Bloggers

Influencers are the new celebrity endorsements. In fact, data from influencer marketing platform MuseFind shows that 92% of consumers trust an influencer more than an advertisement or traditional celebrity endorsement. Instagram is becoming the #1 platform for bloggers.

Local business owners are partnering with bloggers and micro-celebrities to bring attention to their products and services.

5. Getting A Strong Brand

A brand is a personality that identifies a product, service or company, including a name, term, sign, symbol or design. A brand also represents the relationships between customers, staff, partners, investors, and so forth. (Boundless)

A brand does not exist within a company or organization. A brand exists in the minds of your customers. A brand is the sum total of impressions a customer has, based on every interaction they have had with you, your company, and your products. (Lucidpress)

Build brand loyalty on shared values with your consumers. It is not the number of interactions a buyer has with your brand, but the quality and relatability of the interaction. (Harvard Business Review)

The average consumer is exposed to more than 3,000 brand messages on a daily basis. How do they decide which brands to trust? The answer is complex, and their basis of trust has changed significantly over the past few decades.

Today, the leading trends in brand messaging include differentiation on high quality of the product and excellence for the customer experience. The biggest difference in today’s marketing strategies? The ways those marketing messages are being delivered.

Successful brands are growing engagement through channels that consumers have learned to trust: social networks and online reviews. This gives you a hint! More reviews and more active on social media.

I will give you another hint: videos will help you build trust faster!

6. Embracing Your Local Community

Local business owners are joining communities – online and offline to embrace their voice.

Facebook Groups, LinkedIn, Nextdoor, Alignable, and directories like Fivestars, are some of the online communities that are bringing success. The challenge of the business owner is identifying which of those digital activities will most likely bring them in-store visits. That’s where Forensic Marketing comes in handy.

Offline communities are in high demand these days.

I’m the founder and leader of a local community for Professionals & Entrepreneurs in Austin that has turned into 2,000+ members, hosting weekly events that help members to build relationships. We call our group “The Tribe”. It helps local business in the Austin area to meet up, exchange resources, and get their business visible in front of a real community.

Closing Thoughts

In closing, I hope this list can give you an idea of how your Marketing Game Plan should look like for this year.

If your marketing activities are not using a fully integrated strategy, just hit the chat button! I would like to connect with you and discuss our Audit Process using Forensic Marketing that results in a 60-Day Marketing Game Plan.

Let’s do virtual coffee!

Jessica Campos is the founder of Marketing For Greatness; a marketing agency located in Austin, Texas that primarily focuses on improving conversion rates and maximizing ROI.